The television (TV) has become ubiquitous in modern society. As a result, many additional services are being provided via television. One example of an additional service which is being provided via television is an online television program guide, wherein television program schedule information is displayed on a television for searching and selection by a television viewer. Online television program guides are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,578 to Reiter et al. entitled "System for Electronically Controllably Viewing on a Television Updateable Television Programming Information" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,357 to Hallenbeck entitled "Method and Apparatus for Controlling a Television Program Recording Device" both of which are assigned to the assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosures of both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Other services which are being provided or have been proposed in connection with television include interactive video, video games, online stock quotation and/or banking, and video-on-demand.
As a result of the proliferation of additional television services, a variety of accessory units, such as cable television descramblers, video game players, online television program guide receivers and satellite television receivers have been marketed. Unfortunately, these accessory units may be costly and may limit consumer acceptance of the additional services. As an alternative to accessory units, additional computing power and memory have been included in the television itself, for use with online television program guides and the like. Unfortunately, the added computing power and memory may increase the cost of the television itself.